Paul, who has delivered more than 4,000 babies according to his House biography, opposes abortion rights. But in a February interview, he left the door open for women to abort in the case of what he called "honest rape."

On CNN, host Piers Morgan presented Paul with a hypothetical: if his daughter was raped, would he tell her to carry the resulting child to term?

"No," Paul said. "If it's an honest rape, that individual should go immediately to the emergency room. I would give them a shot of estrogen."

He described the situation as "in limbo" because a day or less after intercourse, "there is no legal or medical problem."

But, he added, "If you talk about somebody coming in, and they say 'I was raped and I'm seven months pregnant and I don't want to have anything to do with it,' it's a little bit different story."

Paul's office did not immediately respond Tuesday when asked what he meant by "honest rape."